Economics for the Earth Blog

Friends of the Earth statement on EPA's Clean Air Act rules for existing power plants

Posted Jun. 2, 2014 / Posted by: Adam Russell

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Environmental Protection Agency released rules, today, to reduce carbon dioxide pollution from existing power plants under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. Electric power plants produce approximately 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year -- amounting to almost 40 percent of the United States’ total annual emissions. The regulations that the EPA proposed would cut carbon pollution by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica issued the following statement in response to the introduction of the rules:

President Obama has taken the most significant step by any American president to combat climate disruption. While a step forward, this rule simply doesn’t go far enough to put us on the right path. The science on climate change has become clearer and more dire, requiring more aggressive action from the president.

Friends of the Earth will work with our members and activists to significantly strengthen this rule, and push back against the president’s misguided “all of the above” energy policy. Averting the larger and more permanent effects of climate disruption requires an immediate transition to clean renewable energy; paired with keeping as many fossil fuels in the ground as possible.